My W124 has treated me very well....but then the W124 was an exception in R&D expense and all, we've heard it all before.

I later helped my girlfriend find a 2002 CLK320...The last model year of the W208 chassis/W210. It was almost flawless other than tires and a radiator and fluids for 50k til it was totalled @ 150k on odo.
I just picked up a 2008 E350 4Matic and after a ton of searching, AGAIN all the early years had issues only to find that the final years of the chassis and engine are rock solid and I had no problems buying it with 102k on the odo.
My girlfriends 2014 Jeep Wrangler. 6th year(?) of the chassis and 3rd year with new Pentastar Engine. First couple years had cam issues. Now resolved.

Is the KEY to buying a vehicle to basically completely avoid NEW CHASSIS and/or NEW ENGINE's? Basically let all the other suckers beta test the car and dive in once most of the major kinks are figured out?

I've had some of the best car experiences so far by strictly buying end of generation models!

__________________
2016 Monsoon Gray Audi Allroad - 21k
2008 Black Mercedes E350 4Matic Sport - 131k
2014 Jeep Wranger Unlimited Sahara - 62k
2003 Gray Mercedes ML350 - 122k

Generally yes, the end of a Mercedes chassis run is typically refined as far as it can be, but there are exceptions. For instance, the late model years of the W201 had interior quality issues that earlier models did not because of a change in manufacturing.

We bought a 2014 C250 (W204) so i guess we will find out.

__________________
Sent from an agnostic abacus

2014 C250 21,XXX my new DD ** 2013 GLK 350 18,000 Wife's new DD**

- With out god, life is everything.
- God is an ever receding pocket of scientific ignorance that's getting smaller and smaller as time moves on..." Neil DeGrasse Tyson
- You can pray for me, I'll think for you.
- When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.

Yes. Did you see the thread about vw passat? I had the last year and zero problems. Everyone else hated them.

I had an 09 bmw xcountry. Last year. And they are so simple i knew the differences. The radiator hose went through a metal pipe near the exhaust, and various other small details.

My bmw was testament to this...was a 2011 135i but had the new n55 engine and DcT trans...both of which were great. But the then new idrive system crapped the bed and took out all of the engine and trans CPUs with it. Sold it. Had 4-5 weeks in brand new loaners though which was nice.


Sent from an abacus

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

There is no KEY in buying cars. Pick your poison, when it comes to what you spend for your cars. They're ALL a loss of some sort.

That's the door cards right?

The later interior looks cleaner and the seats are so much more comfortable and supportive than the pre-facelift models so I'd personally suggest the later model W201, especially for the leather wrapped steering wheels.

__________________
Current: 1975 450SEL, 83 300D, 88 Yugo GVX, 90 300D OM603 swap, 91 F150 4.6 4v swap, 93 190E Sportline LE 3.0L M104 swap, 93 190E Sportline LE Megasquirt, 03 Sprinter, 06 E500 4Matic wagon.

You can always wait till they get to 200k+ miles to purchase them. That way you know all the bugs will have been worked out by then.

__________________
Jim

Generally speaking I would say yes. Most of the "bugs" get worked out by the end of the production run and there are generally facelifts and various upgrades done to the cars. In the case of Mercedes they also tend to "test out" newer engines which will be installed in the next generation of cars in the outgoing models. Usually this works with the 350SD/SDLs being a glaring omission.

__________________
1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."

i have found that some manufacturers carry the problems ahead year after year in production. On the other hand some do not. I think it hurts the brands that do. Especially when the problems are signifigant in nature.

Many times I have driven cars that were say five years newer than the last one of them I drove. The glaring to me issues where still present. Makes me wonder who is really running the companies with these policies.

Hype in the form of advertising etc still sells cars. It worked for a long time and still does. Still I believe the tide is slowly turning to where more people are perhaps thinking a little more.

Locally some brands are obviously losing market share in a big way. Their sucker is born all the time approach has started to fail.

I noticed the wife was corresponding with an aquaintance of hers that was describing the new car she was going to purchase. I felt like asking the wife to tell her they were not a good vehicle. Instead I held back as it was none of my business and poor decisions make the economy go round. Someone has to buy the garbage.

On the other end of the spectrum...

Sometimes the end of the first model year can be better. For example on our '12 Passat automatic climate control and rain sensing wipers were standard, as they were for all the 2012 models as it was the first model year at a new plant and they wanted to simplify the line. For 2013 those features became options, and the base price of the car went up $1200. On our 99.5 Jetta, again the first year of that model, several parts are tougher than those fitted to the 2000 cars (but other parts are not so I guess it evens out). There were way more color options available in 1999 too.

But, I would also assume that by the end of a production run hopefully some of the bugs had been worked out.

-J

__________________
1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.

Then the trick is to choose a last year of a model with the tried and true configuration.

I should add I have had bad luck just once with this concept. Currently have a 2014 nissan versa. Researched and researched what problems had been sorted out. Second run on the motor design even.

But I'm thinking the engine in this car was put together late in the day on a Friday. Lol. Fortunately it has a warranty and its being sorted out.

A new concept I have learned is how well the car company takes care of its mechanics on warranty work. Nissan only pays 30% on book time, so the service writers have pressure to not bring them in. As well, it seems like maybe its where guys start out in the industry. At this point I've diagnosed the car and will be going in the back with them. Haha. But they are real nice guys, and trying there best.

But its always a gamble. I have a family friend with massive bmw problems, and another with a kia with 220k miles. Cant find much of a pattern there....

That's why I will never buy a Chrysler made after 2002, because I know exactly what was skipped to make more bonus money for the owners of the company (Cerberus) that bought them.

__________________
Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
1951 Citroen 11BN
1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
1953 220a project
1959 180D
1960 190D
1960 Borgward Isabella TS 2dr
1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6

I have a near end W202 and am glad I dodged the wire harness issue, and had less time on that "lifetime" transmission fluid. The W203 didn't fare as well over its production run, being the dark days of the Chrysler merger.